Page:The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland ( Volume 3).djvu/171

 into the deep valley of the Esk. The celebrated Church of Rosslyn, erected by the proprietors of the castle, stands on the brow of the steep bank of the river above the castle, and commands a splendid view of the valley. The church, so far as erected, is in perfect preservation, and is a charming portion of an incomplete design. It is, in some respects, the most remarkable piece of architecture in Scotland; and had the church been finished in the same spirit as that in which it has been so far carried out, it would have gone far to have realised a poet's dream in stone. When looked at from a strictly architectural point of view, the design may be considered faulty in many respects, much of the detail being extremely rude and debased, while as regards construction many of the principles wrought out during the development of Gothic architecture are ignored. But notwithstanding these faults, the profusion of design so abundantly shown everywhere, and the exuberant fancy of the architect, strike the visitor who sees Rosslyn for the first time with an astonishment which no familiarity ever effaces.

The principal authority regarding the history of the church and the family of the St. Clairs of Rosslyn is Father Richard Augustin Hay, prior of St. Pieremont, whose mother, by a second marriage, became wife of Sir James St. Clair of Rosslyn. About the year 1700, Father Hay made copious extracts from the family documents, which have been since lost, and these extracts, together with his comments, have been published under the title of the ''Genealogie of the Sainteclaires of Rosslyn, including the chartulary of Rosslyn''.

The edifice was erected by Sir William St. Clair, third Earl of Orkney, who succeeded to the estates about 1417. About thirty years afterwards he founded the Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. Certain letters which occur on shields along the cornice of the north wall have been ingeniously deciphered by Dr. Thomas Dickson, of the Register House, Edinburgh, as the initial letters of the following words, viz.:— ·. The structure appears, however, to have been begun a few years earlier, about 1446, as in the year 1447 the continuator of the Scotichronicon says, "Dominus Willelmus de Sancto Claro Comes Orcadiæ est in fabricando sumptuosam structuram apud Roslyn;" and probably the foregoing inscription refers to some ceremonial event connected with the building. Sir William died in 1484, and he appears to have left the building very much in the condition in which we now find it. In that case its erection would be the labour of about forty years.

The church was a collegiate foundation, for a provost, six prebendaries, and two singing boys or choristers, and was dedicated to St. Matthew. It consists (Fig. 1070) of a choir with north and south aisles, connected